Dinner · 420 min · moroccan

Tanjia (Marrakchi Slow Beef)

Beef chuck does the heavy lifting here, with garlic rounding it out. A Moroccan dinner that takes 420 minutes, start to finish.

✓ USDA-verified nutrition data

Ingredients

• 3 lb Beef chuck
• 6 cloves Garlic
• 2 tbsp Cumin
• 1 Preserved lemon
• 0.25 cup Olive oil
• 0.25 tsp Saffron
• 1 tbsp Salt
• 1 tsp Black pepper
• 1 cup Water

Steps

1. Cut the beef into very large chunks — fist-size. Tanjia cooks so long that small pieces would disintegrate; you want majestic hunks.
2. Toss the beef with crushed garlic, cumin, salt, pepper, olive oil, saffron bloomed in hot water, and the quartered preserved lemon.
3. Pack everything into a tanjia urn, or a heavy Dutch oven with a tight lid sealed with a flour-water paste. The seal traps every wisp of steam.
4. Cook at 300°F for 6 to 7 hours — traditionally in the ashes of the hammam furnace overnight. Do not open it. Do not peek. Trust the process.
5. Unseal and marvel: the beef should be mahogany-dark, spoon-tender, and sitting in a concentrated, glossy jus.
6. Shred roughly and serve with bread, spooning the intense jus over everything. Tanjia is patience you can taste.

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